HALIFAX: The acclaimed Vancouver Island-based jazz vocalist, lyricist and composer Angela Verbrugge is pleased to announce a run of dates across Atlantic Canada, joined by Victoria, BC pianist Ashley Wey.
The trek will begin the farthest east one can go in North America on Friday, September 20.
In Port Rexton near Bonavista, Newfoundland, known for puffins and whale watching, Verbrugge and Wey will perform as a duo for local residents and tourists.
Two days later, on Sept. 22, Angela will share her original songs written in the style of the Great American Songbook while Ashley plays the baby grand piano overlooking the harbour at Sláinte in St. Johns, Newfoundland.
Next up are two duo gigs in Nova Scotia — at Inverness Arts Centre (Sept. 24) and Cape Breton Jazz Festival in Sydney (Sept. 25).
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The following day (Thursday Sept 26) will bring them to The Cap’s Jazz at Wilsers’ series in Fredericton, New Brunswick, with special guest, saxophonist Joel Miller.
On Friday Sept. 27, they’ll appear for the Island Jazz organization at Baba’s in downtown Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. There, they’ll be joined by saxophonist Dan Rowswell, bassist Chris Martell and drummer Mat MacEachern.
They’ll make their final stop at the small concert hall The Music Room in north Halifax, accompanied by bassist Dr. Paul
Rushka.
Tickets for shows on the tour are available on eventbrite. See Verbrugge’s website for the link at https://angelaverbrugge.com/atlanticcanadatour
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Verbrugge has swiftly become one of Canada’s busiest jazz performers.
This spring, she wasnomina ted for the Jazz Artist of the Year at the Western Canadian Music Awards.
Since winning JazzTimes’ prestigious Best Female Vocalist poll in 2020, she’s toured her romantic, humorous
and inventive songwriting — pleasantly and tastefully evocative of the classics — as far as Japan, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, Germany, Luxembourg, France and Türkiye.
Her artistry combines the sensibilities of bebop, vintage movie musicals, and the Great American Songbook.
Verbrugge’s songwriting has been praised by international jazz critics, and her most popular song on Spotify (with over half a million listens) was a finalist in the International Songwriting Competition.
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Verbrugge has performed with a cross-section of jazz’s best and brightest, including a number of Grammy and Juno winners and nominees, and Order of Canada recipients. Her ensembles have included pianists Ray Gallon, Bernie Senensky, and Miles Black; guitarist Reg Schwager; bassists Neil Swainson, Cameron Brown, Jodi Proznick, and Lauren Falls; and drummers Buff Allen, Jim Doxas, and Terry Clarke.
She has also shared the stage with top-shelf international musicians, such as saxophonists Hiroko Mase and Ugo Lemarchand, pianists Akane Matsumoto, Julian Schmidt, and Franck Amsallam, bassists Thomas Stabenow and Etienne Renard, and drummers Xaver Hellemeier and Takashi Sugawara.
Verbrugge grew up in Kingston, Ontario, where she played trombone and classical piano.
In her teen years, she pursued acting and musical theatre; at 17, she moved to Toronto, and at 21, she became one of the youngest graduates of George Brown College’s School of Performing Arts in Toronto, earning a degree in Theatre Studies.
In 1997, Verbrugge relocated permanently to Vancouver, and became a mother of three.
